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Research Organization Registry (ROR)

California Digital Library, Crossref, DataCite
Website (Opens in new window) ROR Business Model (Opens in new window) Get in Touch (Opens in new window)

About

Launched: 2019
Record Updated: Oct 19, 2026
Persistent identifier service
The Research Organization Registry (ROR) is a global, community-led registry of open persistent identifiers for research and funding organizations. ROR makes it easy for anyone or any system to disambiguate institution names and connect research organizations and funders to researchers and research outputs.

Domain Relevance

  • Generalist (no disciplinary-focus)

Mission

ROR makes it easy for anyone or any system to disambiguate institution names and connect research organizations and funders to researchers and research outputs.

ROR is the first and only organization identifier that is freely and openly available (CC0 data available via an open REST API and public data dump), specifically focused on identifying affiliations in scholarly metadata, developed as a community initiative to meet community use cases, and designed to be integrated into open scholarly infrastructure.

Key Achievements

  • ROR is currently integrated in 110+ systems to address a range of use cases

  • ROR's API receives approximately 16 million requests per month

  • ROR is the recommended institutional identifier in a growing set of national open science policies and PID strategies around the world

    • Technical Attributes

    Maintenance Status

    Actively Maintained

    Open Code Repository

    Implemented
    ROR GitHub (Opens in new window)

    Technical Documentation

    Implemented
    ROR Documentation (Opens in new window)

    Code License

    Implemented

    Open API

    Implemented
    ROR REST API documentation (Opens in new window)

    Open Data Statement

    Implemented
    ROR Terms of Use (Opens in new window)

    Open Product Roadmap

    Implemented
    ROR Roadmap (Opens in new window)

    Technical Attribute Statements

    Technology Readiness Level

    • Actual system proven in operational environment

    Code Licenses Used

    • MIT License

    Content Licensing

    • Other

    All ROR IDs and metadata are provided under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. There are no restrictions on access to and use of ROR IDs and metadata.

    Content on the ROR website is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

    ROR code is publicly available on GitHub under a MIT License.

    Standards

    Metadata

    • JSON

    Integrations

    • bioRxiv
    • BrCRIS
    • CORE
    • Crossref
    • DataCite
    • Dataverse
    • Dryad
    • DSpace
    • Érudit
    • Europe PMC
    • Humanities Commons
    • Invenio RDM
    • Janeway
    • Journal Article Tag Suite (JATS)
    • LA Referencia
    • medrXiv
    • Mendeley Data
    • O Portal Brasileiro de Publicações e Dados Científicos em Acesso Aberto (The Brazilian Open Access Publications and Scientific Data Portal) (Oasisbr)
    • OA Switchboard
    • Omeka
    • Open Journal Systems (OJS)
    • Open Monograph Press (OMP)
    • Open Policy Finder (formerly Sherpa Services)
    • Open Preprint Systems (OPS)
    • OpenAlex
    • OSF (Open Science Framework)
    • PREreview
    • Research Organization Registry (ROR)
    • Rogue Scholar
    • Sherpa Services (Sherpa Romeo, Sherpa Juliet and OpenDOAR)
    • Zenodo
    • Other
    Other:
    ROR is integrated in numerous scholarly communications platforms and services (see adopter registry).

    Community Engagement

    Code of Conduct

    Implemented
    ROR Code of Conduct (Opens in new window)

    Community Engagement

    Implemented
    ROR Community (Opens in new window)

    Contribution Guidelines or Fora

    Implemented
    ROR - Get Involved (Opens in new window)

    Community Statements

    User Contribution Pathways

    • Contribute funds
    • Contribute to code
    • Contribute to documentation
    • Contribute to education or training
    • Contribute to working groups or interest groups

    Community Engagement Activities

    • Annual meetings
    • Blogs
    • Community calls
    • Conference participation
    • Interest, working, user, or advisory groups
    • Mailing lists and discussion forums (including Slack)
    • Social media
    • Staff roles with responsibility for community engagement
    • Webinars and training

    Engagement with Values Frameworks

    • Principles for Open Scholarly Infrastructure (POSI)

    SCOSS Participation

    Yes

    More About Community Engagement

    Community Engagement Activities:

    ROR is community-supported, community-driven, community-funded open infrastructure. The community-based aspect of ROR sets it apart from similar efforts in this space.

    The wider ROR community includes users and stakeholders from around the world and across many types of institutions and industries, including publishers, libraries, platform providers, university research offices, data repositories, CRIS systems, government agencies, funders, and more. Community members engage with ROR and with fellow community members through its Community Advisory Group, bimonthly community calls, Steering Group, and Curation Advisory Board, as well as through more informal community discussion forms.

    ROR published analyses of its alignment with POSI an in December 2020 and in March 2026.

    Policies & Governance

    Governance Summary

    ROR is operated as a collaborative initiative by California Digital Library, Crossref, and DataCite. The three ROR governing organizations collectively assume and share responsibility for ROR governance, operations, resourcing, and decision-making. These responsibilities are defined in a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA).

    Policies

    Bylaws

    Implemented
    ROR Steering Group (Opens in new window)

    Privacy Policy

    Implemented
    ROR Privacy Policy (Opens in new window)

    Governance Records

    Implemented
    ROR Governance Model (Opens in new window)

    Governance Structure & Processes

    Implemented
    ROR Governance Model (Opens in new window)

    Policy Statements

    Board Structure

    • Advisory board or steering committee

    Community Governance

    • Formal

    Funding

    Primary Funding Source

    • Other
    ROR's core operating expenses are supported by its three operating organizations. ROR receives additional ad hoc contributions from stakeholder organizations and these funds are used to accelerate and scale ROR's activities.

    Revenue Sources

    • Other
    ROR's core operating expenses are supported by its three operating organizations, two of which (Crossref and DataCite) are supported by institutional memberships and one of which (California Digital Library, part of the University of California System) is supported by state and federal funding and student tuition.

    Funding Needs

    ROR receives ongoing financial support from stakeholder organizations. The ROR supporters program strengthens community investment and helps to offset operating costs and fund time-limited projects.See https://ror.org/community/#supporters .
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